Warmer days are upon us and we have loads of new footwear to get you in the mood. Read on and we’ll tell you all about a trunk show with MINK shoes this Saturday May 7th as well as a very special day we’re having for some very special bears. And what newsletter would be complete without a little discount code just for you?

Summer plans are currently being made. This means it’s time to embrace your outdoorsy side. This might take a little extra digging for some of us, but it’s in there somewhere.
When you find it, we’ve got you covered—sporty sandals from Teva, sneakers from Brooks and, for those of you that just want to look good while out of doors, check out our casual wear from SeaVees.

And don’t forget some shoes from a personal favorite—Lino Shoes. These simple yet lovely slip ons are hand-made, hand-crafted, and hand-woven in a small, family-owned factory in Guatemala.

Now, onto your future weekend plans.

This Saturday May 5th, we will have a MINK Shoes trunk show from 2-5 PM. Founder, Rebecca Mink, will be here to debut these brand new shoes for our store. They’ve just reached the east coast from Italy and we are so excited to have this line in our store.

Then, on Saturday May 12th, we’ll be hosting ‘MoonShoes’ for Moon Bears. Come in to learn more about the plight of Moon Bears, like Jasper, pictured above. It’s a sad story, but the good news is that they have Animals Asia on their side, and they are winning the battle. To learn more, go to our event’s Facebook page.
We’ll be donating 10% of all online and in-store sales that day to Animals Asia, so get your shop on for the bears!

From now until May 9th, enjoy a 10% discount on all purchases when you supply the code forthebears at checkout. Mention this discount in the store and we’ll gladly apply the discount to your in-store purchase.

Just wanted to announce a pop-up shop with Vegan Bodega that’s happening this Sunday, March 25th from 12-5:30 PM right here at MooShoes. Vegan Bodega will be on hand with some of their most popular goods:

Bowery was one of our store cats, but he was so much more than that to our staff and to our customers, and to anyone that he came across. He was the toughest tough guy I had ever met, but this only made people want to love him more. He was totally irresistible. He had exceptional looks coupled with just the right amount of sass.

We found Bowery (just off of the Bowery-surprise, right?) 8 years ago on our way home from the store on a hot Sunday evening. It was that same situation we have all been countless times, stray cat crosses your path – what to do? We stopped and said “ok, well we are not going on some crazy cat chase, but..”by the time we bent down, he came right over to us with that Bowery finesse, tail in the air and the “you know you can’t resist me” attitude, and well he was right.

He soon came to live in our store, first our location on Allen Street and then at our current location on Orchard Street. Within minutes of moving into our store he owned the place to the other cat’s dismay. It was during this time that we discovered Bowery’s severe hatred of dogs. Ok, yes we realize the long history of cats vs. dogs, but Bowery’s story was different. He was ready to take on any dog that came into his view and I know this first hand as do my two forty plus pound mutts. He was very integral in the unfortunate MooShoes Dog Ban which we promise was for the safety of your dog.

He loved to hang out by the door as our greeter/bouncer. And it wasn’t just us, everyone was instantly put under the Bowery spell. Someone would reach down to pet him which was immediately followed by a staff member uttering “be careful that cat can be a little unpredictable” but this didn’t seem to sway most. This was usually soon followed by a small cat scratch incident which was then followed by a customer apologizing as if it was his/her fault because Bowery couldn’t of possibly been in the wrong. This is how things went on for years..and no MooShoes visit was complete without a Bowery interaction. I don’t have real scientific proof of this but I think Bowery was the most photographed/tweeted/facebooked/tumblr’d cat on the planet. And the truth is we couldn’t have been prouder to have such an icon representing the face of MooShoes.

He was diagnosed with kidney disease 2 plus years ago and while we think many others might have succumbed earlier, this just further attests to Bowery’s resilience and I’ll say it a zest for life! He accepted his treatments like a trooper until the very end, but we and his care providers finally realized there was nothing left to be done.

MooShoes will not be the same without our resident bad boy and I know our hearts will break every time someone asks us about him. But I am truly thankful he came into our lives and touched so many of yours.

So to Bowery-truly one of the most extraordinary beings that have ever lived..

So it’s official—an hour of sleep was lost…but we think it’s worth it because spring is almost here! And we’re ready for it with loads of new shoes and a plethora—yes a plethora—of in-store events coming your way. Oh and of course a couple of coupons for your next purchase. So do us the honor of reading on.

Sneaker Time! We have loads of new styles from everyone’s favorite, Macbeth, and a brand new brand for us, Superga. And you know what they say about sneakers—you should never stop at one pair…. We’re not sure if anyone actually says that, but we think they should.

Also don’t forget to check out all the new styles from Hearts of Darkness and Jambu. We think you’re going to like what you see.

In-Store Events—We have some incredible events coming up which can’t be missed. First, on March 31st from 2-6 pm we’re hosting a meet and greet with Doron Petersan. She’s recently released her debut cookbook, Sticky Fingers’ Sweets, which features ‘100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes‘. There will be copies of books for purchase, treats to be sampled, and beverages to enjoy. It’s also a great day to shop as 10% of all sales are being donated to Pinups for Pitbulls.

Then, on April 19th at 7pm we are having an event with Sue Coe. Her newest book, Cruel (link) is being released in April. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and Sue will be there to answer questions and sign books. Also, 10% of all sales from that day will be donated to United Poultry Concerns, one of Sue’s favorite non-profits. We’ll have some drinks and snacks on hand, but the renowned Cinnamon Snail will also be parked outside with their amazing food, available for your eating pleasure.

Discounts—Need a little extra nudge to make that next purchase? From now until March 18th, enjoy a 10% discount when using the code goveganinspring. You can use this code through our website or in store.

Of course you are, either you have been lucky enough to eat treats from there, or you have seen Doron Petersan take the prize in Food Network’s Cupcake Wars?

We are hosting a meet and greet with Doron Petersan on March 31st from 2-6 pm She has recently released her debut cookbook Sticky Fingers’ Sweets featuring 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes There will be copies of books for purchase, treats to be sampled, and drinks to be drunk (interpret that as you like)

We will also be donating 10% of all sales to Pinups For Pitbulls , a non profit near and dear to Doron’s heart. Pinups for Pitbulls, Inc. (PFPB) was founded in 2005 by Deirdre “Little Darling” Franklin. Deirdre was tired of finding that so-called rescues and shelters were euthanizing healthy, friendly, and adoptable animals due to their alleged “breed”, and so she utilized her background in modeling and education in fine arts to create a calendar like no other–eye-catching pinup girls and their pups, paying close attention to detail and era appropriate style along the way.

When we opened our store 10 plus years ago..we really had no idea what to expect, probably because let’s be honest we didn’t quite know what we were doing. We filled our store with a bunch of shoes we liked and opened up shop.

We were chugging along for a couple of months when we realized we wanted a little something more. We opened our store 1. because we said we were and we would be damned if we were proved wrong and 2. our commitment to the AR movement and 3. we kind of like shoes (but probably not as much as lots of other people out there)

It then dawned on us to have our first event, but what? There were so many people within the movement that we admired, but I have never been more moved within an instant than I have been when looking at the work of Sue Coe I was given Dead Meat as a gift a couple of years before and no video, image, or words have ever had such a profound effect on me. I am totally convinced that a meat eater would change his/her ways by just spending 10 minutes with any of Sue Coe’s pieces, but..

So without really knowing anything, I just sent an email to Sue Coe asking her if she would do an event at our fledgling little store. And to my total surprise she personally got back to me right away and said “sure”.We quickly came up with a date and thus we had our first event. I was clearly not her only fan in NYC as our store filled to capacity (for the first time ever) and I don’t know if Sue Coe took one break and just signed books for what seemed like hours straight. She had recently released Pit’s Letter Warning, this book will break your heart into a million pieces, but it will be worth it.

And why did I tell you all this..to announce that we will be having another event with the amazing Sue Coe. Her newest book Cruel is coming out in April Cruel conveys the terrible beauty, and intense suffering, of both the animals so sacrificed and the workers involved in their violent destruction. While unexpectedly beautiful in its depiction of the brutal consequences of meat eating, this is a deeply moving, upsetting work, not for the faint of heart. Armed only with her sketchpad, Coe is often allowed access to places no photographer or reporter is admitted: the result is a passionate testimony to the waste and violence perpetrated by one species against so many others—and as both the text and unforgettable illustrations of this book make clear, these actions will come back to haunt humanity. (I took that directly from her site) because there isn’t any way I could have said it better plus I haven’t read it yet

So please join us on Thursday, April 19th at 7pm at MooShoes for an event with Sue Coe. She will be on hand to sign books (which will be available for purchase)

We will be donating 10% of all sales to one of Sue’s favorite non profits United Poultry Concerns United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the compassionate and respectful treatment of chickens, turkeys, ducks and other domestic fowl.

There will also be some drinks and snacks because well we don’t know how to do it any other way.

We just confirmed that Cinnamon Snail will be parked outside. If you have not tried Cinnamon Snail yet, not really sure what you are waiting for. I can promise you one of the best sandwich experiences of your life.

We have collaborated with Raven and Crow Studio on these two awesome posters. One calling attention to the very not awesome carriage horse industry in NYC and one politely asking people not to wear Fur on our premises or really at all for that matter.

If you have a business and you would like one or both, we would love to provide you with one. Just email me, erica@mooshoes.com with your address and we will send it to you, yup, it’s that easy!

10 Years, yes we made it, and of course we had to celebrate the milestone.

We know we are beyond lucky to have made it this far, working at a job that we absolutely adore (at least on most days) so thank you for that. We are the first to admit that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, all we knew is that we wanted to open a vegan shoe store. We didn’t know it would become a shoe store/event space/adoption center/shoe line/ cat haven/place where we would meet the most amazing people (yup-that’s you)